Whisky, bourbon or scotch and what's your favorite?

#1,201
#1,201
GVF said:
The whisky palette seems to develop with age. Many moons ago, I thought it all to be nasty, and was more into wine, which I still am. But, I've diverged into some scotch and irish to try different things and now find sipping a smooth import to be quite nice. Buffalo Trace almost killed my venture into bourbon, but I will definitely sip on some Makers or Wild Turkey. Not sure why those 2, except they are not JD Black Label. Had some Evan Williams at my nieces wedding and was not bad.

The catch 22 with whisky venturing is nowadays with that market exploding, you're looking at $30 plus not to gag. I have very nice wines I like, and 80% can be had for $13-$20.
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+1 for wine. Love wine and I’ve never even tasted anything over $30 a bottle.
 
#1,202
#1,202
orange parmejohn said:
+1 for wine. Love wine and I’ve never even tasted anything over $30 a bottle.
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Try 19 Crimes The Uprising. An Australian Red aged in either rum or bourbon barrels for 30 days to finish. $13 tops. I get it at Kroger. Arrington Vineyards has great wines. The Antebellum and Red Fox Red are outstadning.

Edit: THe 3 main winery's on GA's Wine Trail around dalohnega have great wines too. World calss. A little pricer, but most selections still under $30. Frogtown, Wolf Mountain, Monte Luce. Three Sisters pretty good too, and offers more of the fruit.
 
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#1,203
#1,203
kiddiedoc said:
If you are getting a bottle for family Thanksgiving, go with this:
https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/s...ruban-14-year/p/220061750?s=2001&igrules=true

While I absolutely love peaty, medicinal scotch like Laphroiag and Lagavulin, it is very polarizing and some of your family (and maybe even you) will hate it.
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Very true. Islay scotch isn't going to suit everyone's palate, but I do enjoy it greatly. Ardbeg Uigeadail is one of my all-time favorite Islays. Laphroaig cask strength with a splash of water is also a great choice for those who love Islay. Glenmorangie, as you pointed out, is a great all round selection. Experienced whiskey lovers and relatively new converts both will enjoy it.
 
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#1,204
#1,204
WestTennesseeVol said:
Honestly, I got it from someone who wanted to try scotch and didn’t like it, so they gave it to me to try and I really enjoyed it and went down the scotch rabbit hole. I really enjoy the more peaty scotch’s, but no way I could’ve went straight into something like that. I’ll echo the campfire taste, it’s definitely acquired

Unfortunately, I live in Louisville which is a scotch desert since it will never be able to compete with bourbon.
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I also got heavily involved with scotch way back in the day, but prices have continued to sky rocket. As a result, I've kinda swung back and am enjoying more bourbon these last few years. Right now my cabinet is about 50/50.
 
#1,205
#1,205
My favorite go too bourbon-
Eli Craig Toasted Barrel

My favorite Irish-
Jameson Black Barrel or Red Breast

Favorite Scotch-
Glennfiddich 15
 
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#1,206
#1,206
CAVPUT said:
Very true. Islay scotch isn't going to suit everyone's palate, but I do enjoy it greatly. Ardbeg Uigeadail is one of my all-time favorite Islays. Laphroaig cask strength with a splash of water is also a great choice for those who love Islay. Glenmorangie, as you pointed out, is a great all round selection. Experienced whiskey lovers and relatively new converts both will enjoy it.
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CAVPUT brings up a good practice here. With many good single malts, adding a few drops of water is really good for the flavor.

It's not about dilution, you only need a few drops, and I can't explain the chemistry behind it, but those drops of water kind of "open up" the flavor of the scotch and tend to reveal some of the flavor complexities and often smooth over rough edges.

It's the damnedest thing. I often find it entertaining to have novice scotch drinkers sip a bit and then add a few drops of water and sip again. The eyebrows always raise on the second sip.

YMMV depending on the particular scotch, the effect is more pronounced in some relative to others. I know that it's quite noticeable with all the Highland Park scotches I've had. The Islays tend to benefit from it as well.
 
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#1,207
#1,207
CAVPUT said:
I also got heavily involved with scotch way back in the day, but prices have continued to sky rocket. As a result, I've kinda swung back and am enjoying more bourbon these last few years. Right now my cabinet is about 50/50.
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There's still some very nice Scotch, and Irish, to be had for under $50. I gotta say, though, my nephew is a peat guy, and I tried some peated. Even though it wasn't the heaviest peated, I just don't think that was for me, and I wasn't a first timer to scotch. He gets into the Ardbeg and stuff. Maybe if I try a good peat again. Who knows.
 
#1,208
#1,208
Picked up a bottle of The Glenlivet Founders Reserve at lunch. Gonna pop the cork and give it a sip this evening. Hope it was worth the $40.
 
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#1,210
#1,210
CAVPUT said:
After a couple of drams, it will be worth every penny! ;)
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Same with Schlitz and the first couple cans. Saw a guy at a wedding that had a big bottle of his own Founders Reserve and said it was only thing he drank. Looked it up, and had pretty good reviews. Figured sinceit was The Glenlivet.....Hope so anyway. Nothing worse than having to sip away a bottle of whisky you don't like. I did get thru a bottle of Glenmorangie Original 10 that wasn't my fav, so I guess I can do the same here if it's not super good.
 
#1,211
#1,211
GVF said:
Same with Schlitz and the first couple cans. Saw a guy at a wedding that had a big bottle of his own Founders Reserve and said it was only thing he drank. Looked it up, and had pretty good reviews. Figured sinceit was The Glenlivet.....Hope so anyway. Nothing worse than having to sip away a bottle of whisky you don't like. I did get thru a bottle of Glenmorangie Original 10 that wasn't my fav, so I guess I can do the same here if it's not super good.
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If you are ever stuck in such a pickle again, you can always just drop the Glenmorangie off at my place.
 
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#1,216
#1,216
kiddiedoc said:
If you are ever stuck in such a pickle again, you can always just drop the Glenmorangie off at my place.
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Well, I had been trying a bit of Irish whisky's. Glenmorangie was my first bottle of "real" scotch. It seemed a bit drier than an Irish, and was a bit of a tastebud shock so to speak. To be honest, by the end of the bottle, it was definitely a quality sip. It also coincided with a bottle of Dead Rabbit which may have confused the taste buds.

Currently, I have a bottle of Aerstone Sea Cask, and Glenlivet Founder's Reserve. The Glenlivet is quite nice. Broke the seal last night. The Aerstone does not seem to get the notoriety of other quality 10 year single malt scotch brands, but it is very good, and for less than $30 a huge steal. This is my 3rd bottle of Aerstone, and for being only $5 more than most nice $25 triple distilled daily Irish sippers, you can have a quality aged single malt as a daily.
 
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#1,218
#1,218
For your day to day Blanton's is hard to beat.
Dear Lord the prices these days on McCallan is obscene. I remember when we could get a bottle of 25yo from costco for $200-250.
If you ever have a chance to try Springbank 30 yo, it has a lovely sherry finish.

I got my MBA in Scotland and I cannot stand Islay malts, ugh. The peaty thing just smells like a bandage to me. A buttery Highland and even a nice salty Speyside for me.

Im no oenophile but I do like a meaty cabernet. My fav for a dinner tends to be a merlot or a piquant shiraz. I like shiraz a lot for many foods. Nothing like a cab for a steak tho (or a cigar).
 
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#1,220
#1,220
Gandalf said:
For your day to day Blanton's is hard to beat.
Dear Lord the prices these days on McCallan is obscene. I remember when we could get a bottle of 25yo from costco for $200-250.
If you ever have a chance to try Springbank 30 yo, it has a lovely sherry finish.

I got my MBA in Scotland and I cannot stand Islay malts, ugh. The peaty thing just smells like a bandage to me. A buttery Highland and even a nice salty Speyside for me.

Im no oenophile but I do like a meaty cabernet. My fav for a dinner tends to be a merlot or a piquant shiraz. I like shiraz a lot for many foods. Nothing like a cab for a steak tho (or a cigar).
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Ah. An aristocrat.
 
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#1,222
#1,222
I had a connection in middle tennessee a couple years ago and was able to get it readily at c. $85. I wish I could have bought a couple of cases, then. The only times I have seen it in a store since, the price was jacked to $250 (duty free shop in DR and I think the campus liquor store).
 
#1,223
#1,223
kiddiedoc said:
*this is how you say you are living your best life*
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I started buying Blantons when it was $35 a pop and it was the go to sipper before burbons were "a thing". I have several bottles that are in the cabinet that are at least 7 years old. For some who are looking for a cheaper version, Buffalo Trace Bourbon will get you nearly there. In fact, BT has a fantastic Bourbon Cream that goes great as a dollup in Kaluha for a maduro cigar

A few other items that I have found tasty are
Sherry Cask Single Malt Whiskey - Stranahan's
The Balcones Texas Single Malt is a treat as well - most especially if you find one from the Chip Tate era.
Home - Chattanooga Whiskey - the bottled in bond from 2018 is quite nice.
 
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#1,224
#1,224
Anybody tried the Australian offerings. Seems they have jumped on the tral with the Japanese at distilling "scotch style" whisky, and some bourbons as well.3
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